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Interior

While coal production is most commonly thought of as occurring in the western United States and Appalachia, there is significant coal production in the interior of the US, including a swath extending from Texas through the Great Plains and Midwest all the way to Canada.

The United States Geologic Survey (USGS) breaks the Interior of the United States up into four regions: Texas (which includes some of Louisiana), Eastern Interior (Illinois, Indiana and western Kentucky), Western Interior (Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas), and Mississippi (Mississippi and Arkansas).

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Reckoning at Eagle Creek – The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland

By: Jeff Biggers

Award-winning journalist and cultural historian Jeff Biggers takes us on a journey into the secret history of coal mining in the American heartland. Set in the ruins of his family’s strip-mined homestead in the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois, Biggers delivers a deeply personal portrait of the largely overlooked human and environmental costs of our nation’s dirty energy policy over the past two centuries. Reckoning at Eagle Creek digs deep into the tangled roots of the coal industry beginning with the policies of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. It chronicles the removal of Native Americans, and the hidden story of legally sanctioned black slavery in the land of Lincoln. It uncovers a century of regulatory negligence, vividly describing the epic mining wars for union recognition and workplace safety, and the devastating environmental consequences of industrial strip-mining.

OSM Mid-continent Office

The Mid-Continent Region (MCR) of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) was formed on May 1, 1995, to address the unique environment of America’s heartland. The region covers 11 primacy states, stretching from the cornfields of Iowa and Illinois to the bayous of Louisiana to the arid lands of West Texas. The MCR oversees mining and reclamation of a broad spectrum of coal types including: semi-anthracite in Arkansas, steeply bedded bituminous coal in Oklahoma, broad expanses of high rank bituminous coals in the upper Midwest and Alabama, lignite of east and central Texas and the lignite coals of the coastal plains in Mississippi and Louisiana.

‘Poster child’ coal generator embodies pollution challenge

May 28, 2014

When the Obama administration began the push for restricting the pollution being released from coal plants, one of the nation’s heaviest coal polluters alleged that they would face devastating consequences as a result.

Three years later none of these allegations have occurred. Instead, the Homer City power plant is now a success story on how some of the dirtiest and oldest coal power plants can lower their pollution levels in accordance with the EPA rules. Not only will the plant in western Pennsylvania meet the new restrictions but also they will be doing this without increasing the electricity bills for their consumers.

Another Illinois miner killed on the job

May 15, 2014

Another coal miner was killed on the job while working at the MC No.1 Mine in Franklin County, Illinois. The incident happened on Wednesday when the coal miner became trapped between a machine and a coal rib at the Sugar Camp Energy complex.

This is the second fatality at this complex in less than seven months and the sixth mine fatality in 2014 according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).

A battle is looming over renewable energy, and fossil fuel interests are losing

May 5, 2014

A “trench warfare” is beginning in at least 18 state capitals across the country between industry groups looking to prevent further regulations looking to curb greenhouse gas emissions and a new and formidable opponent in the renewable-energy interest lobby. Companies such as Exxon Mobil, Koch Industries and major coal companies such as Duke Energy and Peabody energy are joining together in attempts to preempt the EPA’s power plant rules.

Places such as Kansas, which have traditionally relied on fossil fuels as a key in economic stability, have recently become a battleground for wind proponents and renewable energy advocates. What were once bastions for coal interest lobbies and other fossil fuel advocates are now ripe battlegrounds for the clash of well-funded renewable energy and fossil fuel interest groups.

Duke: Moving Coal Ash Would Cost up to $10 Billion

April 24, 2014

After the devastating February 2nd spill that released toxic sludge for over 70 miles on the Dan River, Duke Energy is under pressure to remove all coal ash that borders North Carolina’s rivers and lakes. Environmental groups are citing the need for Duke Energy to remove all of their coal ash to lined landfills in order to avoid the environmental degradation that occurred on the Dan River.

Duke Energy is alleging that this removal of coal ash would cost over $10 billion dollars and take decades to clean up. Furthermore, Duke Energy has stated that the majority of these costs for paying for coal ash clean up would come from its electricity customers.

Largest coal mines still in Wyoming, but US is diversifying

April 21, 2014

The Powder River Basin in 2013 listed the top nine coal producing mines in the United States. However, the amount of mines in the Powder River Basin situated in the top twenty five highest producing mines shrinked as compared to twenty years ago.

The decline in the amount of Powder River Basin mines being in the top twenty-five is the result of large mining projects taking hold in New Mexico, Texas, Indiana and Ohio. Nevertheless, the scale of coal production in the Powder River Basin’s Black Thunder mine and the North Antelope Rochelle mine are the largest producing coalmines with growths as high as 400% since 1994.

What next for Murray Energy?

April 18, 2014

Murray Energy Corporation stated Wednesday that the coal giant will no longer provide medical coverage for the over 1,200 retirees who worked for Consol Energy. Murray purchased Consol’s five West Virginia coal mines 16 months ago.

The termination of medical coverage will impact 1,200 former Consol Energy coal miners and 161 households in Pennsylvania alone. Murray Energy has cited this decision as a response to the struggling coal industry facing proposed regulatory reforms, legal actions and the growth of the Natural Gas industry.

Barclays and Citigroup Top Backers of U.S. Coal Industry’s Worst

April 17, 2014

Rainforest Action Group, BankTrack and the Sierra Club today released a report that Barclays and Citigroup are the top funders for dangerous coal practices. Barclays has been cited as the top funder of mountain top removal while Citigroup comes in as the top funder for power utilities that burn coal for electricity.

The report also highlighted that JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. have significantly reduced the amount of funding for mountaintop removal. This is an improvement for JPMorgan which last year was cited as being one of the top funders of coal related projects.

Coal Untouched By April’s Bloom

April 13, 2014

Forbes discusses the challenges faced by the coal industry in dealing with regulatory and legal battles that are likely to curtail expansion. With the boom in the natural gas industry, coal companies are facing decreased demand and the need to retrofit their operations to meet the upcoming carbon limits or shut down.

Companies such as Consol Energy are selling coalmines (5 by Consol) in order to become more active in the natural gas market. Additionally major players in the coal industry (American Electric, Duke, First Energy and Southern) are being forced to shut down coalmines because of natural gas competition, regulatory carbon limits and upcoming legal battles.

Can Coal Ever Be Clean?

April 10, 2014

National Geographic discusses the argument that clean coal is nothing more than a myth. The article discusses the idea of capturing the CO₂ and how long can these deposits actually store the carbon dioxide.

There is evidence from leading Geophysicists that often, the injection of the carbon dioxide is put into reservoirs with brittle rock. This leads to small earthquakes, which cause cracking in the overlying shale rock and leads to CO₂ leaking from the storage facilities.

BLM Could Enhance Appraisal Process, More Explicitly Consider Coal Exports, and Provide More Public Information

February 4, 2014

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released findings related to coal leasing and the need for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to enhance the appraisal process. GAO found that the BLM consistently failed to explain the rationale for accepting bids for coal leasing on federal land that at least initially were far below the actual fair market value presale estimates.

The report stated that the state offices of the BLM did not allow independent review of these leasing agreements with coal companies. Additionally, GAO cited that the BLM failed to take advantage of an independent third party appraisal within the Department of the Interior (Office of Valuation of Services). Lastly, GAO was highly critical of the BLM’s failure to provide even limited information to the public on federal coal leasing.

MSHA announces results of April impact inspections

May 31, 2011

The results of the April 2011 MSHA “impact” inspections have been announced, resulting in a total of 161 citations and orders being issued against eight different coal mining operations. All cited mines were in the eastern region of the US, including Shoemaker and Randolph in West Virginia, the No. 2 and #68 mines in Kentucky, as well as one mine in each of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee and Alabama.

Among the worst offenders in the sweep were the Vision Coal’s No. 2 mine, which received 37 citations and orders that documented (among other things) that Vision wasn’t properly drilling bore holes to test for methane, and that it was creating a risk of a collapse by not following its ceiling reinforcement plan. Inman Energy’s Randolph mine received 25 citations, 21 of which were the most serious “S&S” citations indicating an immediate danger to the mining crew. The impact inspections grew out of an increased enforcement push by MSHA after the explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine. Impact inspections target mines that have a history of violations.